The Invisible Mentor

Archive for December, 2011

This is a guest post by Genny Silvera, and even though the headline says finance candidates, the advice works well for other job seekers.

Finding a candidate to fill a position in your firm takes more effort than simply posting an advertisement in the classifieds or on an online job website if you want to do it the right way. You want to create a pool of the best candidates. Who you recruit to fill a position hinges on what criteria you use for recruitment.

Whether you find your candidates on your own or employ a recruitment firm, your recruitment efforts should center on these essential elements:

Determine Your Expectations

Knowing what qualities you want to find in a potential employee starts with defining those qualities before you recruit candidates. Defining what set of criteria is important because it helps focus what choices you make in the hiring process.

Keep these three key thoughts in mind when determining what candidate you want for a position:

1. What skills are required to function in the job?
2. What educational credentials are needed for the job?
3. What attributes are essential to performing well in the job?

Once you can answer these questions, you can begin to seek for the right job candidates. Going forward without firm answers can mean wasted time and money down the road.

Study Applications and Resumes

Carefully examine each application and resume you receive for a position. Some of them will not come from viable candidates. There are always a certain percentage of people who apply for any job opening whether or not they even meet the basic qualifications. Working with a finance staffing agency can eliminate some of these superfluous resumes and applications and leave behind a pool of qualified candidates.

Each resume and application should be checked to see if job candidates align with the qualities important to the position through their skill set and professional experience. Take your time to figure out if a candidate meets this key criteria. It can mean all the difference between making a good hire and a bad one.

Make Interviews Count

When a candidate comes in for a job interview, it is a time to really see what makes them tick. An interview is the perfect time to get a good read on everything from their communication skills to their problem-solving abilities. You should walk away from an interview with a good idea if a candidate is a perfect fit for your company.

Use the interview to your advantage. Ask focused questions that probe how the candidate thinks or reacts when placed in situations that mirror what they would face working in your company. Their responses will allow you to see how closely they match with the important criteria you defined before the search began.

About the Author: Genny Silvera loves the interview and hiring process but knows that it can be stressful. Groups like Accounting Principals finance recruiting can cut the work and the stress in half for employers who need to remain focused on their customers.

Gertrude Belle Elion, along with George H. Hitchings with whom she worked with close to 40 years, and Sir James W. Black (British biochemist) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for “their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.” Elion graduated from Hunter College with a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry in 1937 during the Great Depression when it was extremely difficult for a woman to find a job in science. She didn’t let that stop her, Elion worked as a high school teacher, and as a lab assistant until she completed her Masters of Science degree in chemistry – which she did at nights – in 1941. It is great for humankind that Elion did not give up because her research led to the discovery of drugs to treat leukemia, malaria, gout, herpes and AIDS.

Image via Wikipedia

Name: Gertrude Belle Elion

Birth Date: January 1918 – February 1999

Job Functions: Medical Researcher, Biochemist

Fields: Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Immunology, Virology

Known For: Research led to the discovery of drugs to treat leukemia, malaria, gout, herpes and AIDS.

While in high school, Gertrude Belle Elion knew that she wanted to conducted research in cancer, and set out to achieve her goal by attaining the proper education credentials. She achieved her goals but not necessarily in the manner she expected. For instance, she was pursuing her doctorate degree part-time at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute while conducting serious research at work, and it got to the point where Elion was given an ultimatum, she had to make a choice, focus on her work or focus on her formal education full-time. She opted for work, and that was okay for her because she had a remarkable career. Elion was the first person to receive a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine who wasn’t a physician or didn’t have a doctorate degree. The work she did mattered that much to humanity and she proved herself worthy by her contributions to medical research.

After Elion completed her first degree during the Great Depression, she couldn’t secure a job in science. So instead, she started her career instructing high school and nursing students and volunteered at a chemistry laboratory. In1939, two years after she completed her first degree, she embarked on her master’s degree part-time, which she completed in 1941.  World War II opened the way for women scientists, and in 1944, Elion secured a job as a biochemist for Wellcome Research Laboratories. For 40 years, she worked with George Herbert Hitchings, and together they pioneered pharmaceutical research. Most successful people attain success by working with others who supported and complemented their skills and abilities. Elion and Hitchings worked very well together, and as a team they had phenomenal achievements, ultimately resulting in a Nobel Prize in 1988.

Elion rose through the ranks at Wellcome Research Laboratories – she started off as biochemist then was promoted to senior research chemist, to head of the Department of Experimental Therapy.

The Science Behind What They Did

Hitchings proposed that “Since all cells require nucleic acids, one might be able to stop the growth of rapidly dividing cells such as bacteria and tumor cells by substituting false building blocks, or antagonists of nucleic acid bases, in the synthesis of nucleic acid. Thus the replication of the unwanted cells might be prevented.”

With that premise in mind, Elion set to work on purines, which are nitrogenous bases that are important constituents of DNA. At that time, James D. Watson and Francis Crick who used x-ray diffraction data collected by Rosalind Franklin, had not yet proposed the double helix or spiral staircase structure of the DNA molecule, which they actually did in 1953. In 1951, Elion and Hitchings developed several drugs, purine antimetabolites which interfered with purine use. The drugs were rigorously tested and a treatment for leukemia was discovered. The testing opened new pathways for other research including leukemia chemotherapy.

One of the new research pathways led to a drug which assisted in successful kidney transplants, and another which treated gouts. In 1968, Hitchings and Elion returned to early research they had done on antiviral drugs, and developed a drug that was effective in treating herpes since 1981 without affecting normal cells. In 1986, researchers who had been trained by Hitchings and Elion developed AZT, the first drug used to treat AIDS.

Elion’s name appeared on 45 patents, and she received 25 honorary doctorates and was elected president of the American Association for Cancer Research. Gertrude Belle Elion’s work matters because she not only helped to create treatments for many life threatening diseases, but her worked advanced the understanding of cellular metabolism. After she retired, she continued some of her work through the World Health Organization, assisted students in medical research, and served on many related boards.

For those who would like to sink their teeth into the science of what Gertrude Belle Elion did, please refer to the sources cited/referenced for this profile.

Gertrude Belle Elion’s Steps to Success

• Knew she wanted to be a cancer researcher and pursued her goals starting with the proper education.
• Persistence: When Elion couldn’t get a job in science during the Great Depression, she volunteered at a medical laboratory, and pursued further education.
• Worked with someone who complemented her skills.
• To accomplish what she did in life, Elion had to know how to keep her ego in check. In addition, Hitchings proposed how to target their research and she acted on it.
• Knew how to make tough choices – focus on work or pursue doctorate full-time.
• Solved problems and mysteries that positively impacted humankind.
• Elion gave back by mentoring young researchers through the Wellcome Foundation.

Why Gertrude Belle Elion’s Contribution Matters

Gertrude Belle Elion’s contribution matters because her research led to the discovery of drugs to treat leukemia, malaria, gout, herpes and AIDS.

Pearls of Wisdom from Gertrude Belle Elion

• Understand the fundamentals of what you do, which will enable you to make innovative changes to the way things get done in your field.
• The road to success is seldom paved with a smooth surface. Gertrude Belle Elion was awarded a Nobel Prize for the Scientific Discovery of Several Drugs, but before she could get into her field, she had to start her career instructing high school and nursing students and volunteer at a chemistry laboratory.
• Pass on your wisdom by mentoring others. Elion mentored young researchers.

Why Gertrude Belle Elion Would Make an Excellent Invisible Mentor

Gertrude Belle Elion is an excellent invisible mentor because her life is a demonstration that persistence pays. Elion had to make tough choices and live with them – she had to choose between work and pursuing her doctoral studies. She chose work and humankind benefited significantly because of the results of her research.

Further Reading

Gertrude Belle Elion Biography

Chemistry Explained: Gertrude Belle Elion

Sources Cited/Referenced

Science and Its Times, Volume 7

Encyclopedia of World Biography

New Dictionary of Scientific Biography

Chemistry: Foundations of Applications

World of Microbiology and Immunology

This is a guest post by Mao Risby,  an employment specialist for local colleges.

The job market is rough and many people are turning to career recruitment services in hopes of landing a position. Recruitment agencies can help job seekers find temp, temp-to-hire and direct hire positions.

Finding a new job or switching careers can become stressful for many people and using career recruitment services is a great way to get rid of the stress of the job hunt. Recruiting companies offer a variety of services to help clients find workers and job seekers get jobs.

Here are some important tips to know when working with agencies for career recruitment services.

Build a Strong Resume

Like with any recruitment services website, a strong resume is going to put you at the top of the growing pile of resumes recruiting agencies receive. Recruiters see hundreds of resumes a day so make sure you list all your jobs, duties and skills.

Your résumé should include recent job positions that relates to the job you’re applying for. For instance, if you’re looking to switch careers to marketing then your résumé should include previous jobs that show you can handle a marketing position.

Prepare Additional Information

Depending on the job you’re applying for you might need to include writing, marketing or design samples. Make sure you have something ready so your recruiter can send it over right away with your résumé. Not having samples could cause a short delay in being presented for the position. With the tight competition out there, that’s not something you’ll want happening.

Search the Database Every Morning

While part of the recruitment services include contacting you about possible positions, it’s always good to check the job database each morning. If a position catches your eye, simply hit the apply button. You only need to send your résumé once and it’ll get stored on the website. If the recruiter feels you’re a great fit, he or she will contact you to speak about the position before presenting you to the client.

 Stay in Contact

One of the biggest mistakes a job seeker can make is not staying in contact with recruiters. They’re busy and won’t always have time to contact you back. It’s recommended to follow-up with the account executive via e-mail or over the phone to get updates about the position.

Prepare for an Interview

Before meeting with the client you’ll meet with an agent at the recruitment agency. They will ask you to fill out paper work and go over your résumé and the position. Treat this like an actual interview. Show up early, dress professionally and answer their questions like you would on a regular interview. You want to make a great impression on them because they’ll push you more to the client.

During this interview ask any question you would be nervous about asking on the interview. This includes dress code, salary, insurance and time off. They will gladly go over all of this with you so you won’t have to awkwardly ask the client in the event you’re invited in for an interview.

About the Author: Mao Risby is an employment specialist for local colleges. Using recruitment services can definitely ease the burden when it comes to searchign for a new job or career, especially in a touch economy where businesses don’t do as much public advertisement of open positions.

Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success? 

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success and it got me thinking about interviews that I have conducted, so I decided to explore an idea. I still haven’t gotten further than a third of the book so far, but when you ask most people about Outliers, they’ll mention 10,000 hours to become an expert at a craft. But from what I have read so far, hard work doesn’t equal success, you also need opportunities and talent.

I have taken five of The Invisible Mentor interviews that I have published on the blog, and extracted the responses to big breaks, mentor influence, and steps to success. Today, I’m focusing on five men, yesterday were five women. As you read the responses, what ideas and thoughts come to mind? Are there ways you can create your own opportunities if you haven’t had your big break as yet?

Name:  Michael Hewitt-Gleeson

Big Break:  One big break was from a famous man in America, Professor George Gallup who started the Gallup Poll and invented market research. He is the fellow who discovered the statistical sample. If you measure a population you can get their point of view and of course that is difficult and expensive to do. If you measure a statistical random sample of 1,200 people, you get the same point of view as if you measured the population. And of course it’s possible to measure a sample and get a small deviation plus or minus. The Gallup Poll has predicted the outcome of every US Presidential Elections since the mid 1930s.

At a time when we needed some help and advice in getting The School of Thinking going, in breaking through the education system, someone of that stature as Professor George Gallup lent his name to it, and he said that what we were doing was possibly one of the greatest things in the world. He in a sense became my mentor, the supervisor for my PhD. He wrote the foreword for one of my books. He was a very nice and encouraging gentleman. He was in his 80s at the time, and I was a much younger man and he extended a hand. I was very gracious with his hospitality and would visit him at his farm up at Princeton. Looking back, this was a huge break and very practical one, and I’m very grateful because it led to a cover story on Readers Digest in 1993. It was an international edition with over 70 million readers which put the school of Thinking on the map. At that time, it was like being on Oprah today.

Mentor Influence: There are people who come along, and sometimes they encourage you, or tell you what you do not want to hear. So one category are people who are wiser, often older and in a different circumstance, who are able to give you good advice, direction or point things out if you are willing to listen. Professor George Gallup and Edward de Bono were great mentors for me. Edward de Bono was my tutor for my PhD, he had one student, me. I am the only one in the world who has a PhD in lateral Thinking, and Edward de Bono and George Gallup were my examiners. They were two extraordinary individuals who spent a lot of time with me, and I have built a whole career around that.

Steps to Success:  I make sure that I do something that I enjoy doing. And I do them every day. In other words, from the point of view of virtuosity, it takes a long while, you cannot just pick up a book or video on something and become an expert. Some people think you can, but you can’t. It may take 10 years, and you can do 10 years if you love what you are doing so it’s a combination of loving what you are doing, and doing it every day. Enjoy success as you go and do the 10,000 hours it requires to achieve virtuosity, and then enjoy that kind of success as well.

Name:  Steve Kayser

Big Break:  Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Steve Kayser: Just one? I have had big breaks all my life. Every day. Every month. Every year.

Tom Nies gave me my latest big break. He asked me to run PR for Cincom Systems North America. When I told him I didn’t know anything about PR he said, “Read this book – you’ll be fine.” The book he gave me was “The Death of Advertising & The Rise of PR,” by Al Ries. I read it. Then called Al Ries. Explained my situation and asked his advice and also asked him to contribute to a fledgling online E-Zine I was developing called Expert Access. He did become a contributor and we went from 5,000 subscribers to 25,000 in about 1 month because of it. Al Ries (and his daughter Laura Riesnow) have done several interviews and articles with me … And,  Al Ries was also one of the first guests we had on Expert Access Radio — http://radio.cincom.com.

One of the lessons I took from that — People at the top value great thinking. They pass it on. If you take advantage of their thinking (in this instance Al Ries’ book) it can change everything for you. But you have to teach yourself – learn yourself. No handholding allowed.

It’s the biggest thing I would look for in new employees or partners now. Are they autodidacts? Can they teach themselves new things – continuously?

Mentor Influence:  Wow – where to start. See above. Some of those guys were. But I also read 3 to 5 books a week and find great mentoring there.

Steps to Success:  Stumbled. Staggered. Fell.  Those are kinda the steps.

No failures = no success

To succeed you have to fail at some time. No way around that I think.

Since I’ve literally reinvented myself 5 times during my life and am in the process of doing it again – I can only say what steps seem to be common in all of those endeavors:

A Joie de vivre  – a joy for living & loving life, learning, re-learning. I need to throw a quote in here.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Name:  John Kremer

Big Break:  Probably the thing that had the biggest impact for me is that Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen loved my book and recommended it to everybody. I was successful before but I sold a ton of books based on their recommendation. They took my book 1001 Ways to Market Your Book and basically put it up on a wall and did the things that they wanted to do. The Rule of Five is one of the strategies that they took from my book, which says that you should do at least five things every day to market your book, any book that you still love and want to have sold and that helps you to be successful marketing your book.

Mentor Influence:  I haven’t had any real mentors who sat with me that much, but I’ve had many mentors through books. I have been mentored by people who I have read like Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and people like Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen through their books, and also by marketing people like Jay Conrad Levinson.

Steps to Success: The main thing that I did was study and learn and keep observing what other people were doing that was working and follow what I noted when I watched people. I have a lot of people that I learned from and not just the gurus but my customers who tell me what works and doesn’t work for them. Much of what I know about book marketing comes from people sharing with me what works for them, and all I do is essentially pass on that information.

Name:  Kevin Popović

Big Break:  There is a gentleman named Bob Friday, and he had a company called TGIF Productions that did video and event production. While I was a struggling entrepreneur, and trying to figure out where I was going to fit in this communications business, I had to take a part-time job in retail. Every so often Bob would come in to the store and buy something new for his office, and he’d share a story and I would chime in about what I thought about his story. We started communicating back and forth.

I ended up offering to help him with these projects on the side to gain experience, and after four or five months of this he started paying me to freelance and after six months of that he brought me on in a full-time position as assistant producer. For four years I traveled all over the country learning about video and event production and how to deal with clients.

I saw how he ran his business and I also saw what I did not like about how he ran his business. So I attribute one of my big breaks to Bob Friday, and thank him for the opportunities he provided and the lessons that he taught me. Many of which are things that I knew that I did not want to do. My father taught me a long time ago to learn from my mistakes and I’ve tried to apply that to everybody I’ve worked with. As much as I have learned from them about what to do, I’ve also learned what not to do.

Mentor Influence: I’ve had a couple of mentors. My father has been a good mentor to me as a professor of marketing. My grandmother has been a mentor to me. She sold shoes for 30 years. Michael Bosworth, sales legend and author of Solutions Selling, Customer Centric Selling and Story Leaders has been a mentor to me in the way that I approach sales and how I present myself, or professional opportunities.

Steps to Success:  I’ve always tried to keep moving forward, lateral at worst, never backwards.

Name:  Andrew Warner

Big Break:  There were lots of big breaks, but here is one. I went to downtown New York, not too far from my office to talk to a customer of mine. On my way out of there, I heard this guy say, “I’m sorry guys I have to run, I don’t have the time. I have to go and look at an apartment uptown. I can’t help you guys today, maybe tomorrow.” So I recognized the guy and said, “Mike, I’ve got a car downstairs, my brother and I will give you a ride up to your apartment and you can get there on time.”

So we’re driving up to the apartment and the whole time I’m thinking, “I should be at my desk, I should be working, what am I doing, just kind of hanging out, what’s wrong with me here, I’ve got to be more efficient,” but I’m enjoying the conversation so I continue, and Mike and I are having a great conversation with my brother, and it’s terrific. I pull over and let Mike out in front of his place and he says, “Thank you! By the way I know that you’re trying to build up your business Andrew we have this customer called Life Minders, they have been buying lots of advertising from us, if you email or contact them and mention my name they’ll buy from you. Alright, goodbye!”

He leaves and I’m sitting there stunned, the guy just handed me a customer, one of his best customers he just introduced me to. That would never have happened if I was just sitting at my desk. It would never have happened if I didn’t get to know him, if I didn’t have this conversation. I called up that Life Minders, and they ended up buying from me. The very first cheque to me was for over $300,000. I looked at it with my brother. We had never seen that much money in the business. I don’t think either of us has seen that big a cheque ever in our lives. It turned around our whole business. We were deep in debt at the time. We could barely pay the bills at the time. That cheque turned things around.

The next cheque from them was for I think $1 million, the next one was for $2 million in advertising and it turned around our business. And what I learned from that was to just go out and have conversations with people and get to know them and really learn from them. That kind of information would never have been on a blog, would never just be on the internet somewhere, and would never have been advertised. I had to get to know Mike to get that kind of information.

Mentor Influence:  I didn’t have enough of them unfortunately and I wish that I had more along the way. I know that there were times when I couldn’t see that having four or five big clients was dangerous for my business. I had them, I was doing well, I turned away other customers because I couldn’t fit them all in. That was a big mistake, then a few of them went out of business, and if three of them went out of business, 60 percent of my revenue was shot.

If I had a mentor, he would have looked at it and said, “Look Andrew, I know you are doing well but you’d be better off with less money but securing your future by locking in multiple sponsors,” or they would have said, “Andrew, you should diversify away from this business and have other product lines,” and I just didn’t have that. That was a big mistake.

Steps to Success: Showing up every day. Even when I started out as an entrepreneur earlier on, my friends who didn’t have jobs, or happen to have a day off would ask me to go and hang out, and I remember saying, “I’m working, why are you even asking,” and they’d say, “Because you’re not really working, you’re working for yourself, you don’t have a boss. There is no reason for you to show up today, you can show up tomorrow. You can always make up for it the next day. Or do work on the weekends or in the evenings.” And if you start doing that you never really catch up. But if you show up for every single day, and you think about your job as a mission then you do grow every day. And everyone around you starts to respect what you’re doing, as you respect it yourself.

From what you have read today and yesterday, do Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success?

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

Michael Hewitt-Gleeson Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Steve Kayser Interview (Part I), (Part II)

John Kremer Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Kevin Popović Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Andrew Warner Interview (Part I), (Part II) (Part III), (Part IV)

Book link is affiliate link.

Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success?

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success and it got me thinking about interviews that I have conducted, so I decided to explore an idea. I have only read a third of the book so far, but when you ask most people about Outliers, they’ll mention 10,000 hours to become an expert at a craft. But from what I have read so far, hard work doesn’t equal success, you also need opportunities and talent.

I have taken five of The Invisible Mentor interviews that I have published on the blog, and extracted the responses to big breaks, mentor influence, and steps to success. As you read the responses, what ideas and thoughts come to mind? Are there ways you can create your own opportunities if you haven’t had your big break as yet?

Name: Patty DeDominic

Big Break: Thirty years ago, one of our neighbours in business brought us a request for proposal to do business with the local government and they said they were not going to bid on the small contract, and asked us we would like to bid on it, that was a big break for us. That got us started with government contracting and opened up a new world of a certain type of customer, which over the years I did many millions of dollars worth of business with the government – the city, county, state, national government.

Mentor Influence: y father being a very successful business person, and my mother being a wonderful homemaker, and active community volunteer. They mentored me, and taught me the value in volunteer work, always trying to line your head and your heart and making sure that your values are not compromised by making a living. I had other business mentors, from early bosses and friends who helped and advised me on buying real estate. When I married my husband 25 years ago, he was more experienced than I in different kinds of businesses so he helped to mentor me in regard to some of the systems he used when he worked for multinational corporations so I’ve been very fortunate to receive many coaching opportunities and mentors along the way.

Steps to Success: There were many: I had to study, I had mentors, I had to believe that I could do it, I had to experiment and practice, make mistakes and learn. So those are the steps – it’s conceive, believe, receive, and achieve. Being grateful is an important part of being successful. I think you must be grateful for the things you have that you have been given.

Name: Kamel Hothi

Big Break: I would say my biggest break was from my line manager going back three lines ago, a gentleman by the name of Arif Mushtaq. He was parachuted in from another company into Lloyds Bank. I encountered him when I was setting up the effort for the Ethnic Minority Network, and he was the one who sponsored the event. It was great to meet Arif. When we started discussing the event and he heard some of my views and ideas he really encouraged me to take a risk. He had faith, he saw something in me that I suppose other people didn’t see, so that encouraged me to take a risk from the position. Yes I could have lost my job. He gave me a blank sheet of paper and said he would support me, and to be honest, that empowerment was the best gift I have ever had. It increased my confidence and since then I have never looked back, so I’m really grateful to Arif.

Mentor’s Influence: I have had a number of mentors I would say, and some were good and some were bad. Most were not what you call formal mentors in the beginning, but certainly people who you admire who you see can add value in different ways. My mother was a huge mentor to me, she helped me to shape my personal life, helped me to focus on the core things to look at, how to overcome when things are not quite going right. And at work, Arif Mushraq was a huge mentor to me, he helped me, and he understood what other people thought were weaknesses, were strengths and he had a real influence on my career.

Steps to Success: For me, it was really understanding the psyche of what’s in it for me. That’s very cynical, selfish thinking, but that’s how people tend to live in the corporate world. It’s using that thinking and putting it into my strategy. When we were building the Asian strategy, it was very much what’s in it for them, what’s the business case, what would they achieve, would they pay attention? So once you can show them what the case looks like and get their juices flowing, then it’s mapping that out and how it can be realized. That’s what I would say is what I have done in my field.

Name: Runa Magnusdottir

Big Break: I’ve had so many! I’ve been so fortunate to have so many big breaks. There has always been a woman who stood behind me, who helped me. If I go back in time, when I was about 20 years old, the private secretary for the Minister of Culture and Education in Iceland who was a woman, gave me a huge break. She appointed me to help out with computerizing the ministry. That was a huge break. Another huge break was when my mother asked me to join her company which I later bought. And that was definitely a huge break in my life. And I can name so many that have come to me and it has always been women who gave it to me.

Mentor’s Influence: The idea behind mentors in Iceland is a fairly new thing so I had to think outside the box when it came to mentors. I would say overall in my life my biggest mentors were my parents. In my adulthood, and how they did it was feeding me with information, and talking openly about life and that the thing I think mentors in my mind has influenced me is to be open and to listen to other people’s views that has been my biggest learning point from mentors.

Steps to Success: The steps I took to succeed in my field were to do a lot of personal development, and find out what was important to me. I think it’s important for everyone to find their purpose.

Name: Nadja Piatka

Big Break: My first big break was getting the account for McDonald’s, and that was selling my low fat muffins to them. And I got to be good friends with the CEO and he grew to be a really great mentor to me. But it was starting as someone coming to them in a regional office with my idea, my low fat muffins, and finally getting to head office. It was a process, but it was through believing and having the best product out there and not thinking that what I was doing was impossible. Though later, the CEO of McDonald’s said that generally it’s a slam door policy and I had a better chance of winning the lottery.

Mentor’s Influence: I really believe in mentors, whether you are a mentor or mentoree. We grow and we really need to have other people’s experiences. I have always belonged to a group of women called the Equinox, and it’s just a cluster of women that we formed in Calgary. We are businesswomen who meet once a month, have dinner and share our challenges, our successes, anything that we can talk about freely and confidentially amongst ourselves. That was such a beneficial experience that when I moved to the United States, to western New York, I formed a group of women. We call ourselves the Equinox and continue to meet once a month for dinner and just share our experiences, our businesses, personal, whatever there is to talk about. We take turns to tell everyone how we are doing and it’s a great thing to do because sometimes when you are an entrepreneur it can be a solitary occupation. The mentors I have gathered around me or mentor to, have been really great. Also, I find in my consulting business it allows me to mentor, and again I feel there is so much for you to learn from everyone around you.

Steps to Success: Because I didn’t have the resources to go the easier route, the first step was to start small in my kitchen. I would get up in the morning at 4 o’clock and start baking and I would sell to little coffee shops in the city I lived in.

After I was on the Oprah show people contacted me because they had this product, this idea, and they would give it to friends and family for free and everybody loved it. But when you are giving things away for free you don’t have a neutral or unbiased focus group. You have to test the market with your product, and have people who are willing to buy it, and buying it more than once, then you have a product that the market will sustain.

If you’re just depending on friends and family, if they like it, it really isn’t a true sense of what the market will do in this very competitive business that we’re in. And every business has to have the ability to rise above everyone else’s, so what I did was tested it in the field with smaller shops, and then grew from there. That is one of the ways that I would recommend to people is to find out if the market will sustain their products.

A lot of people have an idea, they have a product that they want to get out to the market and they spend an awful amount of money on the packaging. By the time you have something that you haven’t even sold, I see people have put hundreds of thousand of dollars into a product before they have even sold one dollar of it. There are ways to do that without such a huge investment with your product and I try to advise people that there are ways to do that. There are many steps to be successful in your field and one of the biggest steps is controlling and having a handle on how much money you’re spending. I’ve seen people run out of money before they made one sale.

Name: Annemie Ress

Big Break: I have never really planned anything and things usually just happen, but the biggest opportunity I had was being asked if I wanted to work in Switzerland by a professor I was studying with, and saying, “Yes, that would be great,” not thinking for one second that I’d get the job. He obviously had more confidence in me than I did in myself and the next thing I knew I was on a plane and working in Switzerland. That’s my biggest break, having someone have faith in me. I had no international experience, I was South African, and had never worked abroad, but had someone believe in me and that has opened doors for me to work globally.

Mentor’s Influence: My mentors have taught me the amazing power of powerful questions, and how you don’t necessarily need to guide by telling, but that wonderful things can happen if you’re open to asking questions and always thinking that you don’t have all the answers but that by asking powerful questions in a given circumstance you can unlock many possibilities.

Steps to Success: Relationships and sponsorships and being authentic. It’s about building meaningful relationships with key opinion makers and stakeholders at all levels in your organizations. It could be with the person who brings you your coffee in the mornings, if you work in that type of environment. Or it could be with the security guard who is at the entrance when you come in to work, or the president of the corporation. But it’s not just about the relationships, it’s also about celebrating the uniqueness in the other person and really connecting with them authentically. In my environment that’s the one thing I’ve tried consistently to do because it builds trust, integrity and respect and that stands you well in both good and bad times.

From what you have  read, does Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success? Tomorrow we will look at five men.

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Further Reading

Patty DeDominic Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Kamel Hothi Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Runa Magnusdottir Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Nadja Piatka Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Annemie Ress Interview (Part I) (Part II)